Our Adventures

Sainsbury's film aims to educate staff and suppliers about food allergies

Posted: 14 Aug 2014

August got off to a glamorous start with my niece, my sister and
I taking part in a Sainsbury's film about food allergies. It was
all Lights! Camera! Action! exactly like the Cannes film festival -
except that it was shot in Islington. (A minor detail.)

Sainsbury's commissioned the video to help educate their
colleagues and suppliers about food allergies. The film also looks
at the specific problems that shoppers with food allergies face
during the weekly shop.*cue the family sharing our struggles and
insights*

In addition to my star struck niece and other families, David
Reading, founder of the Anaphylaxis
Campaign, featured in the video too. He was there to
explain the highly emotive reason why he set up the Anaphylaxis
Campaign, after losing his daughter in 1993 to an allergic reaction
to peanuts aged just 17 years old, and to stress the importance of
correct food allergen labelling.

As you can see from the photos, my niece had a great time and
thoroughly enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame - and even a brief spot
at directing too!

It's encouraging to see that Sainsbury's is being so proactive
about helping staff and suppliers understand the specific problems
of shopping for food allergies. Because food allergy shopping can
be a very frustrating process, right?

In fact, research has shown that a simple supermarket trip can
take almost 40% longer when shopping for a food allergic child.
(Source:Allergy UK)

So anything that can be done to make the process easier for us
allergy folk gets my vote! In fact - little bit of Sainsbury's
worship coming up - I'm a fan of how Sainsbury's are tackling food
allergies. When I attended the
Allergy Academy's Kitchen Workshop in London
colleagues from Sainsbury's were there to improve their knowledge
of food allergies and cook with substitute ingredients.

And when it comes to allergen information on their own brand
labels, they check with the manufacturer to understand exactly how
the product is made so that the labels can have clear information.
E.g. 'Not suitable for customers with an allergy to
egg/milk/peanuts/etc due to manufacturing methods.' There's none of
that vague 'May Contain Nuts' rubbish! Read about Sainsbury's allergen
labelling.

To my mind, it's all good news for families coping with food
allergies. But those are my thoughts, what are yours?

Do you find that some supermarkets make food allergy shopping
easier than others? What are your pet peeves about shopping for
food allergies? Let me know in the comments box below, or
on Twitter or Facebook.

And lastly a huge thank you to everyone who shared their
thoughts on Facebook recently when I posed the question
- "If you could ask Sainsbury's to do one thing
differently to help improve our shopping experience catering for
those with allergies, what would it be?" See
the list of suggestions here.

As the list grew I knew I was going to struggle to remember them
all, so I printed it off and shared your comments with the team at
Sainsbury's. Who knows, your thougths could be the start of some
big improvements for us all.

Disclaimer
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